One Olympic gold medalist pays tribute to another Olympic gold medalist.
Thomas Gustafson only has good things to say about Johnny Nelson who passed away on Wednesday night.
“He was a sociable, kind, and eloquent person who was a worthy hero,” Gustafsson tells Sportbladet.
Watch the TV clip with Johnny Nelson in 2017.
Johnny Nelson is 79 years old. After a period of illness, the ski school legend fell asleep on Wednesday night.
– It is very sad his death, says Thomas Gustafson, who won Olympic gold in skiing in 1984 and 1988, and continues:
When he won the World Cup in 1963 and the Olympics in 1964, I was too young to understand it. During the period of his activity, Johnny Nelson was not a person in my consciousness. But he meant a lot to the sport and had a great personality. Only to realize that he was one of the great sports stars in Sweden at the time.
“I carried the sled too much”
Johnny Nelson was also the reason why Thomas Gustafson once started competing in figure skating.
– Many people think: “Why do you start skating?”. Try to understand that Johnny Nelson and Johnny Hoglin wore skate shoes in a big way in the ’60s and started riding in 1970. In this way, Johnny meant a lot to the sport.
I got a call from Johnny
When Nils van der Poel competed in the 2021 World Cup, Thomas Gustafsson commented on the tournament. One day he received a call. It was from Johnny Nelson.
It meant a lot to me that Johnny heard from me. You can absorb that. When you hear something good, you can talk about it as well as it was. I’ve always loved Johnny.
What are your best memories with Johnny?
– When you say Johnny Nelson, I can’t help that the photo that appears is a photo from the 1963 World Cup when a watch hangs from the coach and Johnny is fully operational on the track. It’s a classic skateboarding image. The collaboration in that photo represents Johnny very well.